fruit flies shouldn’t be born in churches

Buzz buzz 

You know, us fruit flies shouldn’t be born in churches 

Like 

I only got what two— four weeks to live? 

Usually, that’s fine with me, y’know? 

Usually 

I’m supposed to be having an exciting time, right now 

hanging around molding bananas and thrown-out apples 

eating and fucking and pissing and buzzing and 

bugging folks and pissing some more and eating 

some more and getting flicked at and whipping and 

twitching under people’s noses and sneaking up 

an arm and tad bit more fucking and pissing and 

pissing 

But, buzz buzz, bitch, 

you know what I’m doing instead? 

Now I’m flyin’ over here, 

Listening to priest’s homilies about how God falls with every sparrow 

— Goddamn birds, those bitches get all their squawking attention 

How it’s not good the way I’m eatin’ 

The way I’m pissin on the pews 

Like now you got me 

contemplating, 

pondering 

on whether I should like ask the chick that I’m 

about to fuck if i should like 

stay and support her or some shit? 

Like how I can live on bread alone when I don’t really like gluten anyway? Wow, would you look at me

FYI, I ain’t about to plead to see 

those extra weeks 

Not so sure whether 

it’s normal for me to plead for an afterlife 

What would it be like to pray for some of that eternal life? 

Could I possibly 

hope for an eternity 

an eternity of 

eating and fucking and pissing and buzzing 

Ah well, 

it wasn’t such a bad thing 

“hoping” 

isn’t so bad 

Hey— ay!— ay! y’all I don’t have time to start 

hearing you catechising 

I shouldn’t be ruminating 

shouldn’t be considering 

seeking for something 

that isn’t an apple or a silly cheese string 

I got other shit to do y’know



Jenn Uche is a writer from Massachusetts. She is a Grubstreet Teen Writing Fellow, and her writing has been nominated for an American Voice Award by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She was also named co-champion of the Lions Youth Speech competition within the entire state of Massachusetts for an original speech. She is the founder and president of her school’s creative writing club— proudly dubbed “The Walrus” after C.S. Lewis’s poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” She tweets @iunveiledthem!

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